The present invention relates to milking facilities such as found in dairy barns, and in particular to methods and apparatuses for monitoring the pulsation system of milking facilities.
A milking facility automates the milking process of dairy animals, such as a cow. The cow is put into a pen and a milking claw is attached to the teats of the animal. The milking claw has four sleeves, one for each teat. A vacuum is applied to each sleeve in order to suck out the milk. However, a constant application of vacuum is undesirable because the teat and surrounding tissue will be damaged. A calf suckling on its mother does not apply a constant vacuum. Rather it sucks, then swallows and breathes before sucking again. Thus, the teat is put under a periodic suction or vacuum, interspersed with rests.
Automated milking facilities emulate this natural milking action by the use of a liner. The liner which is elastomeric, is located inside of a shell of the sleeve. The liner is made to expand and contract so as to control the application of vacuum or suction to an individual teat. The liner is in turn controlled by a pulsator.
The pulsation system is a vital part of a milking facility. There is usually one pulsator for every cow being milked in the barn at that time. For example, if a barn can milk sixty cows at a time, the barn would typically have sixty pulsators. The pulsation system controls the liner that actually comes in contact with the cow""s teats. The liner is fitted inside the shell. The liner is usually made of rubber or silicone while the shell is usually made of stainless steel or rigid plastic. Between the liner and the shell is an airtight chamber. The pulsation system alternates the liner between a vacuum state and a massage state. During the vacuum state or milking phase, the milk is drawn out of the teat with a vacuum applied to the teat end. During the massage state or rest phase, the liner collapses on the teat and massages the teat. The relaxation of the teat during the massage state is necessary to avoid accumulation of blood and fluid in the teat end which may lead to mastitis.
Mastitis is an inflammation of the mammary gland caused by injury or much more commonly the introduction of invading bacterial pathogens that multiply in the milk producing tissues. Mastitis reduces milk yield and alters the composition of milk and in many cases injures the animal to a point where she cannot recuperate and becomes an economic loss for the dairyman.
Dairy producers lose an estimated $185 for every cow they own to mastitis. This amounts to over a billion dollars lost per year for the dairy industry as a whole according to the National Mastitis Council. Two-thirds of this loss comes from production loss of subclinically infected cows.
There are two main sub categories of mastitis; subclinical and clinical. Subclinical mastitis the form of the disease in which there is no observable indication of the disease, but the presence of bacterial pathogens can be detected in the milk by special testing. This form of the disease can be very detrimental to milk production in quality and quantity produced by the herd. Subclinical cows many times become clinical as the bacterial infection spreads.
Clinical mastitis is the form of the disease in which there is observable indications of an inflammation of the mammary gland (udder) and the milk produced may not be used for human consumption. Clinical mastitis results in a loss of the cow to milk production for some amount of time
Three factors may contribute to the spread of mastitis: environment, milking procedures, and milking equipment. For the purposes of this application, this invention pertains to the last; milking equipment. It evaluates the pulsator, which is a primary component of the milking equipment.
A properly performing pulsator operates in accordance with standards. The standards determine the length of the milking phase, the rest phase and the transition periods between the milking and rest phases. Unfortunately, when a pulsator malfunctions, it usually is unable to execute the rest phase. This puts the cow""s teat under a constant vacuum, potentially leading to mastitis.
In the prior art, the pulsators might be checked against these standards one time per month. The standards provide ranges for the milking phase and the rest phase. A technician xe2x80x9cgraphsxe2x80x9d each pulsator with a portable vacuum analyzer. The technician hooks this specialized computer up to each pulsator and receives a printout analysis. The technician must then determine whether the pulsator falls within the set standards and repair the pulsators that do not perform to specifications. The technician must check each pulsator individually.
The prior art suffers from several disadvantages. The analyzer is relatively costly and can only check one pulsator at a time. Thus, a dairy barn only hires a technician on a periodic basis, often just once a month. A pulsator may be malfunctioning several weeks before its next check-up by the technician. In this time period, every cow milked by that pulsator is subject to teat end congestion and mastitis because there is not an adequate massage phase. That could be more than 2500 milkings with a malfunctioning pulsator. Just one broken pulsator over the course of a month can be devastating to a herd""s health.
Another disadvantage is that the prior art analyzer requires expertise to utilize. The analyzer prints out a graph showing the pressure of the pulsator. The technician must then interpret the data to determine if the pulsator is operating properly. Consequently, many dairy barns are unable to check the pulsators with in-house personnel and have to hire the technician. This adds to the cost of maintaining the equipment. Also when the analysis is performed, the discretion as to whether a pulsator is within parameters or not is left to the whim of a technician. These parameters will be different from technician to technician and will also differ depending on a technician""s state of mind.
A milking facility""s pulsation system must be held constantly to high and consistent standards. The system must be checked more than once per month and the standards for a dairy should not change. The current industry practice is forgiving to a malfunctioning pulsator which can destroy a herd""s health.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for analyzing the pulsation system constantly against a predetermined and unchanging set of standards.
The present invention provides a method of monitoring the operation of a pulsator in a dairy barn milking system. The milking system has a milking claw with a vacuum applied to the milking claw. The pulsator produces pressure changes in the vacuum applied to the milking claw. Stored pressure changes from a normally operating pulsator are provided. The pressure changes in the vacuum that are produced by the pulsator are measured. The measured pressure changes are compared to the stored pressure changes and a determination is made if the measured pressure changes are within a predetermined tolerance of the stored pressure changes. An unsatisfactory indication is provided if the measured pressure changes are outside of the predetermined tolerances.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a satisfactory indication is provided if the measured pressure changes are within the predetermined tolerance by illuminating a light of a first color in a milking pen having a milking claw, while the step of providing an unsatisfactory indication further comprises illuminating a light of a second color in the milking pen. Thus, the milking crew in the milking pen receives a visual indication of if the pulsator is operating correctly or not. In the preferred embodiment, a good indication is provided by a green light, while an unsatisfactory or bad indication is provided by a red light.
In another aspect of the present invention, the step of providing stored pressure changes from a normally operating pulsator further comprises performing a calibration mode by measuring the pressure changes of the pulsator that is to be monitored and storing those pressure changes. Thus, the method is calibrated to the particular pulsator that is being monitored. This provides a flexibility that allows the dairyman to change pulsation parameters, while maintaining tight tolerances.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the pressure changes comprise a rest phase and a milking phase. The step of performing a calibration mode further comprises averaging the rest phases and averaging the milking phases and storing the averaged rest and milk phases.
In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, the pressure changes comprise a rest phase and a milking phase. The steps of comparing and determining if the measured pressure variations are within the predetermined tolerance further comprises comparing the measured rest and milk phases to the respective stored rest and milk phases and determining if the durations and pressures are within the predetermined tolerance. The invention also provides an apparatus for monitoring the pulsation of a milking system in a dairy facility. The milking system has a vacuum line connected to a milking claw and a pulsator for altering the pressure in the vacuum line between atmospheric pressure and vacuum pressure. The apparatus has a pressure sensor that is structured and arranged to be coupled to the vacuum line. The pressure sensor provides a pressure signal. A processor has an input and an output. The input is connected to the pressure sensor so as to receive the pressure signal. The processor has a memory, with the memory containing recorded pressure variations representing the normal operation of the pulsator. The processor compares the pressure signal with recorded pressure variations and determines if the pressure signal is within a predetermined tolerance of the recorded pressure variations. If the pressure signal is within the predetermined tolerance, then the pulsator is operating satisfactorily. If the pressure signal is not within the predetermined tolerance of the recorded pressure variations, then the pulsator is not operating correctly. An output signal is provided to the output of the determined operability of the pulsator. An indicator is coupled to the output to provide an indication of the operability of the pulsator.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the indicator is a light.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the processor compares the milking phase and the rest phase of the measured pressure signal with the recorded milking and rest phases of the pressure variations.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the pulsator alternates the pressure in the vacuum line between a rest phase and a milking phase. The rest phase and the milking phase each has a duration and a pressure. The processor compares the duration and pressure of the rest phase of the pressure signal to the duration and pressure of the rest phase of the recorded pressure variations and compares the duration and pressure of the milking phase of the pressure signal to the duration and pressure of the milking phase of the recorded pressure variations.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the apparatus further comprises an adjustable tolerance setting that provides an adjustable input of the tolerance to the processor.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the apparatus further comprises a calibration setting that provides an input to the processor. The processor records the recorded pressure variations from the pulsator that is being monitored when the calibration setting is selected.